Danji

I am so angry with myself for not taking pictures of my lunch at Danji last week. I wish you were able to see the delicious bowl of Korean comfort food I wolfed down in a matter of minutes. On Wednesday, my team at work decided we wanted to go to lunch and we were craving Asian. We didn’t want one of the same three places we rotate through on a regular basis so I hit the web to find something new. We were down to the wire when I saw Danji on nymag.com with a “critic’s choice” checkmark by its name. It fit the bill perfectly: Asian, someplace new, and nearby. I didn’t even look at the menu before we left, so it was definitely a leap of faith.

The dinner menu is more extensive, but for lunch, there are four appetizers and three versions of the same entree choice (vegetarian, brisket, and meat of the day). We started by sharing some huge, fried, vegetable dumplings. No problems there. The entree was delicious, comforting, and perfectly sized. The dup-bop (which means over rice) of your choice is a bowl of perfectly cooked, somewhat sticky rice topped with meat or veggies, scallions, and sriracha mayo. Next to that bowl is another bowl filled with soup that is made with all sorts of spices I can’t define and bits of veggies and meat. This soup is way more satisfying than the boring miso broth that comes as an afterthought at Japanese restaurants. You also get two side dishes, which on Wednesday, were two small piles of kimchi (only about a bite and a half each).

$14 may be a little pricier than your typical lunch, but I figure if you’re going to spend $10 on a salad, you might as well spend a few more bucks on a far more satisfying lunch with more complex flavors. They also get you in and out rather quickly, making this the ultimate power lunch in Midtown.